At 16, Maxime Landry lost his father, who decided to end his life. Since the latter had been his role model, the singer-songwriter could have chosen this path even in difficult times, but he found the strength to persevere. Looking back, he is deeply grateful to life when he sees how many pleasant surprises it has in store for him.
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Maxime, the audience warmly welcomes your duet with Annie Blanchard Jolene and the player!
Yes. And the album is also a great success. It’s the first English language project for Annie and I, and it’s also the first duo project. We didn’t know how we would be received. It’s unexpected, additional ones will be added! Annie and I are grateful to be able to continue our craft as we did before the pandemic. This allows us to present a grandiose spectacle. We are six musicians on stage.
Photo: Dominic Gouin / TVA Pub
And you’ve made a wonderful friendship…
Yes, and it is very lucky. This project allowed me to discover the extraordinary woman Annie. We spend hours every week on the phone! We needed this relationship of friendship in our lives. We’re working on another project together: we’re recording our next album “Le country de nos idoles”, which is due to be released in autumn. It will be a tribute to the cowboys here, to our pioneers, to those we grew up with and rubbed shoulders with. I am thinking, among others, of Renée Martel, Patrick Norman and Paul Daraîche. They are the ones who inspired us. The next few years will develop well. I will also record an album of my compositions called Not enough of a life.
MARIO BEAUREGARD/QMI AGENCY
We are happy to be where you are in your life, even if you have recently revealed a darker side of your personality Tower…
Yes, and I was surprised that my comments were taken up in all sorts of ways afterwards. People thought I wanted to kill myself even though what I was talking about was in the past. It was a time in my life when I was younger and less mature. At that time I had just lost my father who had ended his life. Since I had that in my little guy’s head as a template solution, that was the solution. I later understood that suicide was never a solution. It touched me to have to explain myself to people. Strangers wrote to me: “Maxime, don’t do that!” It also allowed me to understand how much my family’s life would have been turned upside down if I had taken action.
Why do you agree to be so open about it?
I decided that as long as it existed, I would never close the door on the subject. It’s like homosexuality: as long as people take their own lives because they feel unable to accept who they are or who they love, I’ll keep talking about it. I haven’t given myself a mission, but I’m an open book and have always spoken out about what I’ve been through. I too had role models, people who inspired me. Sometimes a simple sentence allowed me to change my perspective.
Above all, there is always hope…
Yes. And I can say it: The job saved my life. My father just worked, but he didn’t like what he was doing. When I started in business I discovered the pleasure of doing what you love and not counting the hours. Sometimes I struggled to hold on and find beauty. Lynda Lemay wrote me a song about it, I stayed. I stayed, but only just… When I think back on it, I say to myself, I’m lucky I stayed because I never saw all the good things coming for me.
Photo: SEBASTIEN SAUVAGE / TVA
So that you can look positively at what awaits you?
Yes, because I would never have experienced my current happiness if I had decided to leave at 16. The messages I received recently made me realize what my environment and family might have experienced… When I spoke about my homosexuality, I also received messages from people who didn’t know me but said they saw me wanted Happy.
After your father left, did you ever feel the need for counseling?
I’m not saying it’s the right thing to do, but I didn’t take any advice to get out of there. On the other hand, I could count on attentive ears. My therapy was the world because I talked about it a lot. Singing was my outlet. One day a father confided in me that he wanted to take his own life but had heard my song Cache-Cache on the radio at the right time. He remembered what I had been through and told himself he didn’t want to put his kids through that…
You mentioned something so important: the strength of the network!
Yes. I always wanted my world around me. My former in-laws, to whom I have remained very close, are my best friends. And today they are working with me. They picked me up when my father left. It’s not just a professional entourage, we have a history. I have my cocoon and that’s reassuring. I need it. You know me and I know you too. I am fortunate to have people close to me who are like family and follow me on tour. It makes it easier, nicer. I don’t feel like I’m working even though I work 90 hours a week.
Photo: SEBASTIEN SAUVAGE / TVA
What would be your antidote to sadness?
Write. I often translate what I experience into the characters in my novels. It’s very liberating and you feel less alone. Writing also allows me to express what I feel. And friendship, which is also very important to me. When I’m experiencing something intense, heavy, I suggest my friends go out to dinner or have a drink. I don’t necessarily feel the need to empty my bag, but we understand each other. I am there for my friends and they are there for me. And I share a lot more beautiful moments than difficult moments!
Maxime Landry and Annie Blanchard introduce us to tour Quebec City with Jolene and the Gambler. Check out maximelandry.com for show dates.
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